May
10
2012
The American Gaming Association is the best resource for statistics regarding the legalized gambling industry. The AGA just released its 2012 "State of the States" report, which provides national and state-by-state economic impact data, including
gaming revenues, tax contributions, and employment and wage figures for
the 22 states with commercial casinos operating in 2011. The report is downloadable from the AGA website.Business
Reno Casinos Blame California Tribal Gaming for Financial Woes
Mar
20
2012
In this Sacramento Bee story, casinos in Reno are described as having "fallen victim" to California tribal casinos in recent years. The latest is the Silver Legacy Resort, where we stayed several years ago for tribal-state mediation training at the nearby National Judicial College. The Silver Legacy is a newer casino, less than 20 years old, designed somewhat in the spirit of the Las Vegas resort casinos. It features a laser-light show and a huge replica of a silver mine. We enjoyed our stay there.But now, the Silver Legacy is trying to avoid defaulting on a $142M bond. The casino's owners are negotiating a restructuring of the debt.
2012 Indian Gaming Industry Report
Mar
9
2012
Alan Meister's annual report on the tribal gaming industry is out -- it's the 2012 Casino City's Indian Gaming Industry Report. As per usual, Alan's report is making the news. Here are some of the findings highlighted in the media:New Economic Study on Tribal Gaming in Washington State
Mar
3
2012
Our friend Jonathan Taylor has completed another study of the economic impacts of tribal gaming, this time focusing on the 29 tribes in Washington state. Jonathan's findings for 2010 include:Tribes collectively paid $1.3 billion in wages and benefits
Tribes employed 27,376 employees, 66 percent of whom are non-tribal members
Tribes purchased $2.4 billion in goods and services from local businesses
Tribes made one-time capital investments totaling more than $259 million
Altogether, tribes boosted the state economy by roughly $3.5 billion in 2010
Effects of Recession Continue to Lead to Refinancing for Tribes
Feb
14
2012
You don't have to be an economist to know that even if the recession is officially over, many sectors of our economy continue to experience challenging effects of the economic downturn. The casino industry once was lauded as "recession-proof" and it certainly is true that people gamble even when times are tough. But this recession demonstrated that the gaming industry is not immune.The recession's effects on tribal casinos brought to the forefront issues that simply had not been relevant to Indian country before -- mostly because tribal casinos have brought a level of economic development and revenue to tribal governments that hasn't been present since -- well, since we came up with the legal term of Indian country.
Kathryn to Present at ABA Gaming Law Minefield
Feb
7
2012
Kathryn is scheduled to present at the ABA's National Institute on the Gaming Law Minefield in Las Vegas, Feb. 23-24, 2012. Her presentation is part of a panel on "Ethics and the Gaming Industry," which will discuss ethical issues faced by lawyers practicing in the gaming industry, with a focus on the relationship between the regulators and the regulated. Kathryn's presentation will further develop Kathryn&Steve's concept of an "Indian Gaming Ethic" to guide tribal decisionmaking and to inform decisionmaking by non-tribal folks as well. New Article on Internet Gaming and "Tribal Gaming Ethic"
Jan
4
2012
Steve and Kathryn have an article in the November 2011 issue of the Gaming Law Review&Economics:Indian Gaming on the Internet: How the Indian Gaming Ethic Should Guide Tribes’ Assessment of the Online Gaming Market
Kathryn R.L. Rand and Steven Andrew Light
Gaming Law Review and Economics. November 2011, Vol. 15, No. 11: 681-691
It’s available through the journal’s web site (or email us if you'd like a pdf of the article):
http://www.liebertonline.com/toc/glre/15/11
